Spring Theory is working with faculty from the Integrated Management Project (IMP) Capstone program at the Graduate School of Management at UC-Davis to develop a company-focused partnership that allows students to solve complex challenges for a sponsoring company.
The 10-week project will involve a team of 4-6 top MBA Students, dedicated faculty supervisors/advisors, and professional staff.
The program is designed to take on challenging, complex business problems and allows students to use creative thinking, heavy research and faculty expertise to deliver actionable solutions, implemented by 80% of the past participating companies.
Until November 15, 2020
January 4-March 19, 2021
Assigned based on project topic
Graduate, 2nd year
5-6
Company provided
Until November 15, 2020
January 4-March 19, 2021
Assigned based on project topic
Graduate, 2nd year
5-6
Company provided
Leading expert faculty
Client-focused experience
Custom project suited to client's needs
Provides an unparalleled learning experience for students
Access to the perspectives of top students
Extensive research and analysis
AT&T collaborated with a student team to develop a solution for what location-based and web analytics information they could incorporate into their business intelligence products for enterprise customers.
Lotame worked with a student team to obtain a better understanding of the media landscape and content services. Students developed a comprehensive outline of the industry players and identified strategies for Lotame to leverage their data technologies along with emerging trends to expand into new markets.
JetBlue partnered with students on a project aimed at understanding consumer preferences for in-flight amenities, and developed strategic recommendations aimed at keeping the brand's offerings fresh and innovative.
Fidelty worked with a student team to identify new ways to engage with young investors through providing products, education and services that would be most relevant to this consumer base.
The 21-month full-time MBA offers classes at the UC Davis main campus. Students can earn an MBA in general management, or can choose from concentration areas such as Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Strategy, or Business Analytics. The degree program requires 72 units of coursework, comprised of 27 units of core courses and 45 units of electives. The required core curriculum is designed to provide a foundation in the functional areas of business-accounting, economics, finance, marketing, organizational behavior, statistics, and strategy.
The STEM-designated full-time MBA program is consistently ranked within the top 10% in the country, according to the U.S. News & World Report.
The curriculum is anchored by the IMPACT consulting-style projects. Please click here to see some examples of past IMPACT projects.
The company commitment would consist of approximately 10 hours over the course of the project.
Clients are always welcome, and encouraged, to devote more time beyond these 10 hours if they have the ability to do so. The 10-hour commitment includes: a project planning meeting, a kick-off meeting with your student team(s), a mid-point meeting or report review to provide feedback, and attending (virtually or in-person) the final presentations.
This also includes time spent at various points throughout the semester on emails and calls to answer students' questions and provide project guidance.
This is typically established based on what the client company and the student team are able to accommodate.
We have found that projects with standing weekly (or bi-weekly) conference calls and/or email status reports have the most success as it allows for the most client visibility into the student team's progress, and for the students to obtain timely feedback.
The main forms of communication include email, conference calls and video conferencing.
Examples for this specific opportunity can be found in the "Past Project Examples" section above.
For examples of other collaborations set up by Spring Theory, please feel free to visit the Past Collaborations page on our website by clicking here.
The primary benefit of working with Spring Theory is our expansive network of opportunities through top-quality university programs and courses. We are heavily involved in establishing the connection with the professor, and in the project scoping and planning conversations. We help establish a clear timeline and project milestones on a formal planning call with the client representative(s) and the professor that will be overseeing the project.
Once the project starts, we check in around major project milestones to ensure the project is meeting all expectations and that the client representative(s) have sufficient visibility into the project progress. We also send surveys and have a mid-point call to further gauge these aspects. While this rarely occurs, if the project has gotten off-track or the client is unclear of where a project stands, we are happy to intervene to get the project back to meeting expectations.
Generally, we try to strike a balance between being involved enough to provide sufficient support, while still allowing the project to progress naturally and being mindful of the client's time. We are always available, however, as a resource throughout the entire project.
The benefits our clients have experienced through working with student teams have included a combination of the following:
